Meet Penny, our first 2024 Academy Scholarship candidate to launch her business

Hi, I’m Penny Louise Cartledge, a new Travel Counsellor from the north-west tourist hotspot of Blackpool. After achieving my first-class honours degree in International Tourism Management at UCLan University, I was awarded a place on the Travel Counsellors Academy Scholarship Programme.

The travel industry is in my blood, having lived in holiday apartments and B&Bs all my life and working as cabin crew for both Jet2 and TUI for 5 years collectively. At the age of 24, I was offered the chance to set up my own travel business with Travel Counsellors after successfully pitching my business idea.

My induction started on 15th July 2024, so I’m sharing the journey of my first eight weeks to give you a realistic overview of what to expect when you come on board as a new Travel Counsellor through their Academy Programme.

Week One – Induction

The trainer I had was Kristina, and she was so amazing during the first week of induction. She answered our questions and really made us feel like one big family in our morning call. It was interesting learning about the rest of my induction cohort, as we all had our own unique strengths from previous roles we’ve worked in. This week, we worked through various modules and started pulling together dummy quotes for Dubai, Tenerife and a Las Vegas and Los Angeles twin-centre trip.

I also began building up my social media platforms. I set up Facebook, Instagram and TikTok accounts. I also created a LinkedIn page (despite not being too familiar with this platform), and a YouTube channel as a place to post my travel vlogs. All these social media profiles were then placed into an easily accessible link using LinkTree, where I can direct my followers to view my other platforms and support me from several places.

Week Two – Induction Continued

During the second week of induction, we further explored the capabilities of Phenix (Travel Counsellors’ booking system), predominantly looking at DMCs and external suppliers. We were tasked with creating itineraries for Iceland, Rhodes, Santorini, and a Thailand and Singapore twin-centre. For the Santorini quote, we were put into pairs and had to role-play – with one person being the customer and the other being the Travel Counsellor.

This gave me an insight into the conversations I’d need to have and the questions I’d need to ask when introducing a new client to my services. Additionally, we looked at the policies and insurance that would need to be discussed when finalising and booking a trip.

At this point, my social media accounts were being shared. I managed to get 250 followers on my Facebook page within two days, which was a massive achievement! On Thursday evening, I had my first enquiry through Facebook, which I instantly started working on once I was officially live with my business on Friday afternoon. I was also in touch with my mentor, Kate. She was lovely to talk to. She offered help if needed and answered any questions I had.

Week Three – Getting things in place

I started the week by planning out social media posts and exploring the Travel Counsellors Brand Hub. Any questions I had were answered by Kristina, who was always happy to help. I decided on a mixture of informative quotes alongside personal and comedic videos, since those seemed to do much better for engagement through Instagram Reels and TikTok. I also looked more into LinkedIn and began to expand my reach on there. I began working on my France vlog, using Final Cut Pro to edit it together.

Additionally, I worked on two enquiries – a group holiday for nine people in April 2025, and a girls’ trip to Tenerife for one of my university friends. Both enquiries came from Facebook and were from either direct or mutual friends.

Week Four – Social media growth

This week, I mainly focused on marketing strategies. I purchased business cards and a laptop skin from the Brand Centre and got a water bottle with the Travel Counsellors logo on the side. I kept my business cards to hand and whenever I was socialising, I would give out some of the cards I had on me. As well as this, I continued working on social media posts and exploring different marketing assets available to Travel Counsellors through the Brand Hub.

Week Five – New enquiries

This week I worked on a few new enquiries that had come in – one of which was for a friend of my parents. They wanted three weeks in Thailand at the beginning of January 2025. I created an itinerary for them consisting of five main tourist hotspots in Thailand, and sent over a list of popular excursions. Additionally, another enquiry came in via WhatsApp for a 50th birthday cruise.

Week Six – First booking!

My first-ever booking was processed this week, which was a week-long Nordic Cruise with P&O for the enquiry I received last week. I was a bit nervous making the booking, but my mentor Kate, and her buddy cover, David, were so helpful in making me feel at ease and answering any questions I had regarding it. Once this booking was processed, I was more confident than ever in handling any other enquiries that came my way.

Additionally, this week I began studying for the NCL Set Sail course. It consists of six months of training to increase my knowledge of the cruise sector, which is a part of the travel industry that I’m very passionate about.

Over the weekend, I attended Manchester Pride. Since festivals and events are definitely a niche that I want to explore more, I spent a lot of my time there creating content for social media – which was a lot of fun! I also got talking to a variety of different people, and even handed out a few business cards.

Week Seven – Set sail

This week was spent working my way through the Set Sail training, completing the first two levels. I also had the final ‘launchpad’ call, which was assigned for four weeks post-induction. From here, I learned about the coaching calls that are in place and organised one for the very next day with Craig Bradley, one of the Relationship Managers. It was very useful to spend that hour going over my strengths and weaknesses, and learning how to improve myself and my performance in regards to my business.

Week Eight – Venus Live!

Wow, this was an extremely busy one! I spent Monday and Tuesday in Manchester at Travel Counsellors’ Support Hub to complete Venus Live. This is an in-office training module, consisting of group learning and some supplier training. Here, we got to meet as a training group in-person. It was so fun getting to know all of the other Academy Travel Counsellors face-to-face, and the sessions were extremely useful.

Following this, I also went to a supplier event with the Visit North Iceland and Visit Iceland teams at the Chill Factor in Manchester on the Thursday. This was such a fun event and gave me an opportunity to learn all about Iceland and what it has to offer. We enjoyed a lovely presentation followed by fun on the slopes inside the Chill Factor, and a buffet-style dinner with drinks included. At the end, they treated us to a raffle and I ended up winning a Northern Lights Tour in Iceland for two people, including transfers!

On the Friday, myself and a few of the local Travel Counsellors around the north-west area had all agreed to meet up and go for breakfast in the Trafford Centre, so we could get to know one another over some food. It was really nice meeting other Travel Counsellors with varying years of experience and different areas of expertise. They gave me lots of advice and supported me with some enquiries I had on my desk. Everyone was so friendly – it felt like a family straight away!

Reflections and what’s next

Over the last eight weeks, I’ve already learnt so much as a Travel Counsellor, and even had the privilege to secure my first ever booking in this time. I want to ensure any client who decides to choose me has the most memorable and exciting trip. Making others happy makes me happy too.

I’ve also realised how inclusive the Travel Counsellors community really is. Whether it’s fellow business owners or Support Hub colleagues, everyone is so happy to help. I aim to be as helpful to other Travel Counsellors in the future once my knowledge base expands over the coming months.

I’ve loved every moment so far at Travel Counsellors, and can proudly say that being accepted onto the Academy Scholarship Programme was the best career choice for me. A massive thank you to the whole Travel Counsellors community!

Have you been inspired by Penny’s story? You could be winning a place on our Academy Scholarship 2025. Unveiled at WTM, in 2025 we'll be giving away up to 20 places on Travel Academy Training Programme, designed to give entrepreneurial young people the opportunity to set up their Travel Counsellors franchise for free. Find out more information and register your interest here.

If you'd like to learn more about what being a Travel Counsellor is all about, book onto one of our Discovery Events to get an insight into our community and our award-winning travel franchise model.